[daip] Re: on-line FILLM

[Eric Greisen]

Bryan Gaensler writes:
 > Hi Eric,
 > 
 > I'm on the NRAO Users Committee and we're working on our annual report to
 > the Director right now. One of things we are currently discussing is my
 > own personal experience in the past year, in which some proprietary VLA
 > data was (accidentally?)  stolen from me by someone running on-line FILLM
 > at AOC before the data could be transferred and locked in the archive.
 > 
 > We are trying to work out what we can say/recommend about this issue in
 > our annual report.  Lisa Young told me you had some thoughts about some
 > possible (simple?) changes to FILLM which might close this loophole?

Having not looked yet I am not sure how simple they will be:

1. FILLM has to know that it is the on-line version
2. It would then require that (a) the program code be specified
   and (b) prompt for a password
3. It would then pass those two on to the on-line open routine
4. The on-line open routine would have to compare the two with a
   data base of passwords and continue only if they match

The worst problem I suspect is the maintenance of the password data
base which would have to be current a day or more before the observing
run.  I guess it has to be more or less that already so it may not be
a problem.  The data base would have to be at the VLA as well as at
the AOC since miranda at the VLA is also expected to run on-line
FILLM.

Eric Greisen